Okay, first of all, February 10 is the anniversary of a car accident I had 3 years ago. It was windy and snowy out yesterday but I took my chances and braved the roads.

I had a bit of work I wanted to get done at the library, so I was there maybe a half hour and left around 6:30pm to go get some groceries at Walmart, which was about a mile or so away. I get on the main road going towards Walmart and all of a sudden I spun in a circle on the road!

Since this was after 6:30 on a miserable sunday night, the roads were fairly quiet. I recall seeing one car come to a stop behind me and thankfully I got the car under control and pulled into a school parking lot to wait for my heart attack to subside.

So I eventually calmed down and went to Walmart, did my business and got home at 7:55pm.

I walked from my garage to my back door and, nestled by the back step next to the house was a bottle of beer with a cap on it, a travel coffee mug and a roll of paper towels. Yeah, I slowly took a look and said "what the hell?" Then I noticed my back door was open.

Now, I live in a very small and very quiet village in upstate NY. I don't recall ANYTHING serious ever happening there and I've been there most of my life. Yes, I had been leaving the back door unlocked. I know several houses in town who do this.

So, I go into the house and see stuff out of place. I took a quick walk around the house and nothing major was gone.

Then I went to my neighbors' house to ask them if they had seen anyone or anything...since this was a dark, cold winter evening I wasn't expecting much. I called the cops from their house and someone came within 10-12 minutes. I took the cop over to my place and in that bit of time I was gone, one of the fuckers came back and took the crap they left by my back step! (Probably fearing that the cops could get prints or something...I didn't even think to take it inside, ballsy move, huh?)

The cop and I followed the footsteps in the snow. From what we could tell, I surprised the guy in my house when I came home and parked in the garage. He took off out my front door and a different guy came back and got the stuff from the back step. This asshole actually ran through my neighbors' yard to hop in a car and take off. I could tell there were two of them because one left a boot print and the other was a sneaker print.

As I've mentioned here before, I keep four banks in my bedroom which contain my "hoard" for comic convention money. The two small banks were still in my bedroom but the two bigger banks were gone.

One bank had been smashed open and the other bank was upside down and empty. For some reason, they chose to use a flimsy clear plastic trashbag to put several pounds of pocket change in. Yes, the bag was still on my kitchen table, it had split (big surprise) and money was all over the place. The other bank was intact.

So, I did my thing with the cop and he's coming tonight so I can make a formal report.

Then I went over the house again and found a few things missing: I'm the Treasurer for two clubs and I had the boxes of spare checks in my kitchen. A book or two of checks was missing. I had my personal checkbook with me but I was missing a book of my checks, so, during lunch today, I have to go to the banks and tell them what happened. I have the check numbers, so I assume they'll stop those numbers. I also had a couple $2 bills stashed away in a plastic cup and an old $1 bill from 1957...these were gone.

So, how did it feel getting robbed for the first time? Mainly I'm still angry and puzzled. I have potentially valuable stuff all over the house and none of that was messed with. They just headed for my bedroom as if they knew the banks were there and that was it.

On top of all this, I had a message from one of my brothers to let me know he was coming to stay a couple days. I called and left a message to let him know what happened and he called me back soon after. I also called my dad to tell him. My brother came around midnight and I appreciate his company.

Yes, this could've been LOTS worse. I suspect I'm lucky that I came home unexpectedly and surprised these assholes. My back door will be locked from now on.

Since it was snowy and windy last night, the footprints were useless but the cop took stuff that might have fingerprints on it. However, knowing my luck, these two guys won't have records.

Yes, it's just "stuff" and I wasn't hurt but having strangers in your house doing whatever they damn well please annoys the hell outta me. I hope the cops get someone.

Oh well...I hope I have a better evening tonight.

Dennis

"It's impossible to be neat and tidy amidst the natural majesty of mountains of books."

that is total suckage. i'm sure if you hadn't come home, some of the more expensive stuff would be gone, too. good thing you surprised them & they ran, it could have ended much worse. i hope these punks get caught & you can sue their asses.

Anyway, I spent most of my lunch hour yesterday going to two banks to have stops put on the check numbers which were stolen. I was charged a fee for each batch of checks but only a little of it was my money, the rest was money from the two clubs I'm treasurer for. However, it's now been taken care of.

The banks have stopped the checks and the cops know that I had checks stolen, so they'll be on the lookout for them. If these little shits try writing one, they'll get nabbed.

The cops also know about my stolen $2 bills. There's a Nice & Easy convenience store/gas station in town and a small grocery store. There aren't that many two dollar bills in circulation. Both stores have been notified, if a two dollar bill pops up, odds are pretty good that it's mine. I've had the two dollar bills since High School and it's been many years since I've seen another (I sometimes ran a cash register when I used to work at Kmart and I vaguely recall seeing a two dollar bill back then). I also had a ten dollar bill for dues money taken and I doubt I'll see that again.

I totally think this was teenagers. I mean, I have valuable stuff all over the house and they chose to break into my comic convention hoard of pocket change? They tried putting several pounds of money in a flimsy clear trashbag, which promptly broke open...I mean they were in my bedroom, why not steal a pillowcase off my bed and use that?

Okay, I also meet adults who are dumber than a box of rocks every day at work but I think an adult would have stolen more important things than pocket change.

I also think there was timing and surprise on my part. I think this all happened shortly before I got home, if I had been gone longer, yes, they might've gotten away with more.

As to fingerprints, if these fuckwits have a record and the cops find something on what they took from my house to dust, then they'll get them. If they don't have a record, the cops can't do anything but the prints will be kept on file...if they try elsewhere and get caught, then they'll get nailed.

As to my sueing the punks who broke in? I just hope they're caught and whatever charges possible are pressed. Yes, those of you who know me in person know that I'm a fairly laid-back guy and a bit shy (I always have been)...however, I'm still absolutely furious at what happened and the cops better find who did this before I do because I have a very strong desire to administer a considerable beating to the SOBs who did this.

Since I don't wish to get jailed for assault, I will try hard to keep a clear head about this but I still need to give something a pounding.

*Sigh* Oh well, thanks for the moral support. If the cops succeed in getting someone, I'll share the news here...remember, I live in a small village and lots of people know each other and people will talk. I'm trying to be positive about this and things can happen in my favor.

Dennis

"It's impossible to be neat and tidy amidst the natural majesty of mountains of books."

Yeah, I was thinking about the robbery you and Cathe went through a couple years back and I'm sorry the vast resources of a big city police force like Savannah have never found your stuff.

My experience was minor, compared to yours.

I'm out a grand total of fifteen bucks...actually five of it was my money, the rest was money for one of the clubs I'm treasurer for (I blow more than that at the comic shop each week) and the stolen checks have all been stopped. Nah, the checks weren't collectors items...just ordinary ones (Mine have Warner Bros characters on them: Bugs Bunny, Tweety, etc...). I can always buy a new bank to replace the one these fuckers smashed and the cops have the second bank, which was intact. Hopefully, I'll get that back when the cops are done trying to get fingerprints. I've got the change they spilled all over my kitchen in a tupperware bowl in my bedroom.

I'm still amazed they pulled this on such a shitty night: It was dark, super windy, bitterly cold (even by my standards and I'm used to this weather!) and snowy.

I still totally think this was teenagers...just because of how stupid it all was and what they went for. I have stuff all over the house worth far more than the change they spilled all over my kitchen table.

If I had been gone longer and not caught them in the act, could they have cleaned me out? Maybe...Yes, it was a truly crappy night and I doubt my neighbors would've been looking out their windows (they missed the assholes doing what little they did do). However, I live in a small village of 1400 or so people. There are houses on both sides of mine, other houses with a clear view of my back yard and houses across the street in front of mine (All these people know me by name and some have been friends for many years). I live across the street from my old high school (Yes, I have to look at the old hell hole every day!) and the administration building is two doors down from my house and there's a parking lot, which is where these guys parked while they tried robbing me. There's snow everywhere here and it would've taken awhile to haul the valuable stuff out of my place into their car...the quickest route would've been crossing my neighbors' back yard. Regardless of how lousy the weather was, I'd like to think someone would've seen people going back and forth while carrying stuff.

It would be very cool if the cops in my little village actually got these guys but I'm not going to hold my breath. I only hope they'll fuck up and get caught with a bad check or brag about robbing me or something like that.

Yes, I'm lucky this wasn't much worse and I can live with the inconvenience of locking my back door from now on.

Dennis

"It's impossible to be neat and tidy amidst the natural majesty of mountains of books."

Yeah, apparently I now live in a wretched hive of scum and villainy...who knew?

I've had one of my brothers staying with me since Sunday (I drove him back to the train station this morning) and I found out that he told the mom of a friend of his. This family has some clout in town and she's been telling her friends and they've been telling friends.

People are locking their doors in my normally peaceful little village so I have a feeling that these fuckwits will get caught before too much longer.

Dennis

"It's impossible to be neat and tidy amidst the natural majesty of mountains of books."

*Kristy: "D'oh!" I doubt the two dollar bills are very collectible, I just checked one of the currency reference books at work and the two that I "had" are listed at 3-4 bucks each. The 1957 dollar I "had" was only a few bucks, too.

I also doubt these idiots who were in my house would know how to find a currency dealer. The cops notified the stores in the area and I think they'll just try to spend them. I haven't seen a two dollar bill since my days of running a cash register at Kmart (15-20 years ago!) so if any two dollar bills are recovered in my dinky little village, odds are pretty good that they're mine.

**Joy: Thanks! Yeah, I'm positive these guys were utter nOObs...I mean they were too damn stupid to simply carry my banks in their arms and out the door. They had to be bold and daring and try putting several pounds of change in a flimsy clear plastic trash bag, which promptly broke like a wet piece of kleenex.

People all over town and beyond are now aware of my robbery. I think someone will screw up and talk.

Dennis

"It's impossible to be neat and tidy amidst the natural majesty of mountains of books."

That sucks donkey balls that you got robbed. One of my neighbors was robbed a few years ago and I was home all day that day. I told him that I saw nothing unuasally. I found it it was one of his roommates who did it and he went through the back so none of us could see what the guy was doing. He took the guys motorcycle, but as luck would have it the robber wrecked the bike and got arrested. I hope they threw the book at him. What a idiot.